Widow's Wreath

April 16, 2018
At the outset of Riggs’s uneven 14th Martha’s Vineyard mystery (after 2017’s Trumpet of Death), 92-year-old Victoria Trumbull, a deputy in the West Tisbury police force, is preparing to host the wedding reception of her 25-year-old cousin, Penny Arbuthnot, when an electrician working in her house finds a body hanging from a beam in the cellar. Much of the plot revolves around discovering the identity of the deceased and resolving complicated relationships among the family of Penny’s fiancé, Rocco Buffano, who has a debt problem and knows someone wants to kill him. Forthright and down-to-earth Victoria, who exemplifies Yankee can-do practicality, steals the show. Evocative descriptions of the island’s natural beauty and quaint towns make up in part for the underdeveloped supporting characters. Even Penny—impulsive, ditzy, and living a fantasy whose Mr. Right is very obviously all wrong—lacks depth and distinction, despite being a near-perfect foil for Victoria. This entry is strictly for series fans. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Agency.

May 1, 2018
A favor for a relative involves a poet and sleuth in yet another murder.At 92, Victoria Trumbull (Trumpet of Death, 2017, etc.) has lived her whole life in a big old house on beautiful Martha's Vineyard. When her distant cousin Penny Arbuthnot asked to hold her wedding there, Victoria agreed, but now she's shocked to discover it's a huge extravaganza with tents, sound systems, and more than 200 guests. And then the electrician wiring the ceremony finds a body wrapped in a sheet hanging in the seldom-used cellar. Though Penny and her fiance, Rocco Bufano, each think the other is wealthy, Penny's maxed out her credit and Rocco's been disowned by his father, Giovanni Bufano, whose Mafia connections make him dangerous. The murder victim, whom Rocco claims not to know, looks amazingly like Rocco himself, and Rocco worries that the man may have been killed by one of his own creditors as a warning to pay up. On the island for the wedding are Rocco's brother, Dominic, who arrives at Victoria's house dead drunk, and his two stepbrothers, Cosimo and Caesar. All the friends Rocco's invited to fill out the groom's side hate him, and they're all planning his demise--though he's such a narcissist that he has no idea so many people wish him dead. Since they all turn up at Victoria's sooner or later, the police use her and the island's gossip network as fonts of information while wondering if Rocco will escape death long enough for them to find the killer.Riggs' heroine has a smaller role than usual in an exciting and twisted tale of hatred and family honor that will keep you guessing until the end.

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